Meta was asked following the launch of its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses to run an information campaign making the public aware of how the glasses recorded footage.
If you have been wondering why Meta has been advertising its smart glasses a lot lately, you’re safe to assume it has to do with privacy concerns.
Meta launched its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses last year as part of a collaboration with the eyewear maker. The glasses sparked concern from Ireland’s data watchdog, which posited that the glasses’ recording function could record a person in a much more subtle manner than if the recording was done with a smartphone.
The Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) asked Meta, then Facebook, to run an information campaign to make the public aware of how the glasses can record video and images.
Italy’s data watchdog, Garante, had similar concerns regarding the recording function on the product. When Ray-Ban Stories was launched, Meta did address privacy concerns by highlighting that a visible LED light lights up on the glasses whenever they are capturing images or recording video.
The DPC was not convinced by this, however. They said in a statement at the time that when devices such as smartphones recorded footage they were held up in a noticeable way, so a person could know they were being recorded.
“With the glasses, there is a very small indicator light that comes on when recording is occurring. It has not been demonstrated to the DPC and Garante that comprehensive testing in the field was done by Facebook or Ray-Ban to ensure the indicator LED light is an effective means of giving notice,” the DPC said.
“Accordingly, the DPC and Garante are now calling on Facebook Ireland to confirm and demonstrate that the LED indicator light is effective for its purpose and to run an information campaign to alert the public as to how this new consumer product may give rise to less obvious recording of their images.”
That was not the first time Meta fell foul of the DPC. The DPC’s 2020 report revealed that 14 of its 27 cross-border investigations related to Meta-owned Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram.
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Source by www.siliconrepublic.com
